The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mals) will provide the installed capacity, infrastructure and technical teams of the network of linked laboratories to assist in the analysis of Coronavirus tests.

84 laboratories from Embrapa's networks, from the Federal Agricultural Defense Laboratories (LFDAs) and from the Executive Cocoa Crop Planning Commission (Ceplac) will be made available, with 89 RT-PCR equipment in operation and an analysis capacity of more than 76 thousand samples per day. This is the reference technique for detecting Coronavirus.

The laboratories of the Mapa network are in 42 facilities located in 19 states and 27 cities. The equipment should be relocated based on the strategic demand of the Ministry of Health.

There are also a total of 108 professionals qualified to operate equipment and tests, which can be allocated as needed.

“This strategy proposes an agribusiness alliance against Covid-19, under the curatorship of the Ministry of Health, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, which makes available in a fast and orderly manner the high quantity and quality of material, human and structural resources to reduce the evolution of prevalence of Coronavirus in Brazil ”, explains the Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina.

Safety 

Of the total laboratories, 62 have biosafety level NB1, which cannot handle biological material. In this case, the equipment can be loaned to other laboratories or they can receive the samples ready for analysis.

Another 18 laboratories have an NB2 biosafety level, which can be assigned to the healthcare network to operate the tests.

Four laboratories have a maximum level of biosafety NB3, three of which are able to operate at level 4 of biological safety, with the use of a diving suit, and two of them (Campinas-SP and Pedro Leopoldo-MG) have a robotic structure for sample preparation and the performance of the tests. They can be made available to support the healthcare network to handle the virus or for activities that require maximum operator protection, and for the creation of sample preparation centers on a large scale.